1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer-assisted medical research. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and computer program for electronically collecting, organizing, and presenting medical research study information and laboratory test information.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Doctors, nurses, and other care givers often work with large groups of patients and collect a large amount of information relating to each patient. It is not only important that such information be accurate and up to date, but the information must be managed efficiently to enable caregivers to quickly access the information they need without sifting through the entire body of information.
Computer programs have been developed to assist in the collection and storage of patient medical information. For example, hospital information systems (HIS) are currently used by hospitals to store and retrieve information relating to the administrative and clinical aspects of the hospital's services. Furthermore, various computer-based imaging systems are used to store, retrieve, view, and manipulate images that are created for patient treatment, research, or both.
Prior art systems of managing medical information enable caregivers to quickly store and retrieve information relating to a particular patient. Unfortunately, however, these systems suffer from various problems and limitations. For example, users must use several different systems to obtain the information created by each system, and are limited to retrieving and viewing information relating to a single patient at a time.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and method of collecting, organizing, and presenting patient information.